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UNITED STATES PATENT Erica.

LUTHER O. OROVVELL, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO ROBERT HOE, THEODORE H. MEAD, AND CHARLES W. OARPEFTER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MEANS FOR PROTECTING NEWSPAPERS AGAINST RESALE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 602,896, dated April 26, 1898.

Application filed May 15, 1896. Serial No. 591,630. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LUTHER C. CRowELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Protecting Newspapers Against Resale, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

In the sale of daily newspapers as now practiced it is the custom for the printers and publishers thereof to place the same upon sale in quantity with the newsdealers and to reimburse the newsdealer for such newspapers as remain unsold upon the return of the same within a limited period to the office of publication.

It is a common habit for the purchaser of daily newspapers to discard the same after having read them, thus permitting them to come into the possession of persons who have not purchased them, but who seek to recover their value from the publisher by taking advantage, through unscrupulous persons, of the mode in which they are marketed and of the custom of the publishers in redeeming unsold copies at their cost price, and the possibility of so defrauding the publisher has led to his being systematically defrauded.

The object of this invention is to so construct the newspaper itself that when it is once opened in order to obtain its value by a reading of its contents it shall thereafter contain evidence of the fact that it has been sold or used and its property value obtained by the disruption of a part of it or disconnecting portions of it made necessary in the act of unfolding or opening out its component leaves.

The invention consists in a novel combination of foldingmechanism and mechanism for passing a metallic device through the free edges or plies of the folded sheet and clenching it, so as to unite the edges or plies and seal the same, as described and claimed hereinafter.

A practical and preferred embodiment of these improvements, whereby a printed product properly folded and securely sealed is obtained with great rapidity, as well as the product itself, is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is an end elevation of the delivery apparatus of a web-perfecting printing-machine in combination with which this invention is shown. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof as seen looking in the direction of the arrow 2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged end elevation of the stapling mechanisms. Fig. 4: is a side elevation of the same as seen looking in the direction of the arrow 4 in Fig. 3, with the cylinder carrying the main stapling mechanism in vertical section; and Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the product.

Although the invention is applicable to many forms of delivery mechanism of a prin ting-machine other than that herein shown, wherein is embodied means for folding the paper or lapping its plies together, so as to reduce its dimensions to those of small area, whereby it may be conveniently transported and bundled for sale, the mechanism illustrated is apractical and advantageous structure for this purpose and will first be explained. Then the arrangement and combination therewith of the stapling mechanism will be described in order that its cooperation therewith, whereby the improved newspaper is produced ,shall be readily understood.

Any printing-machine whereby a web of paper is printed may be arranged to supply this delivery apparatus.

This delivery apparatus consists in part of a longitudinal folder L, which may be of any of the constructions of such devices now common in the art by which a web of paper passed longitudinally through these devices has its sides doubled or lapped toward each other and thus produces a longitudinal fold in the web and delivers the same folded lengthwise. Such a longitudinal folder as is shown and which is preferred is composed of an interior triangular guide, external turners 5O 60, and

fold-laying rollers 7 0 80. This folder is suf ficiently herein described to be readily understood, but is substantially like that embraced in my Patent No. 331,280, wherein it is more specifically described. Operating in connection with said longitudinal folder is arotative transverse cutting and folding mechanism,

which consists of rotative carriers F C, geared together to run in unison and at a speed corresponding with that of the printing-machine, the carrier F being supplied with two rotative folding-blades 30 40, which are supplied with means causing them to make semiroiations in cooperating with its folding-rollers 31 41 for imparting a transverse fold to the paper, substantially as is set forth in Patent No. 171,196.

The carrier 0 is provided with a transverse cuttingblade 32, which operates with the cutting-slots 33 34, provided in blocks supported in carrier F, in performing the operation of severing the web of printed paper transversely into sheetlengths. The sheets folded between and delivered from the folding-rollers 31 41 are conveyed in succession outward for delivery by means of tapes 35 36, with a suitable space between them occasioned by their shortened length produced by the folding operation. These tapes are led over suitable guiding-rollers 81 82, near the folding-rollers 31 41, and guiding nipping-rollers 90 91, the lower tapes returning around the carrier S and a stretching-roller 93 and the upper tapes passin g around the carrier D and returning therefrom over a stretching-roller 94. These tapes thus form a delivery-pathway for the folded sheet from the folding mechanism to and between the carriers S D and lead to the final delivery mechanism. This delivery mechanism consists of a rotary fly made up of a series of curved arms Y, rotated so as to move in unison with the travel of the folded sheets, which arms Y of the rotary fly move between fixed vertical strippers 51 and operate to lay sheet after sheet down upon horizontal tapes 61.

As thus far described and by a knowledge of the ordinary state of the art it will be understood that the mechanisms referredto operate as follows: The longitudinal folder operates to impart to a printed web, passed over its internal guide and through the external turners 50 and fold-laying rollers 80, a central lengthwise fold by having its sides lapped together on a central line, which lapped or longitudinally-folded web will, in passing between the carriers F C, be carried upon and onward with the surface of the carrier F to a suitable point beyond the folding-rollers 31 41, and will be folded between said rollers by one or the other of the rotary folding-blades 3O 40 in a manner well understood,durin g which folding operation the leading end of the web will have been severed into a sheets length by the operation of the cutting-blade 32 of the carrier 0 and the cooperating cutting-slot 33 or 34 of the carrier F, said sheets length having its front and rear portionslaid or lapped together in passing between the folding-rollers 31 41 and thus becoming shortened lengthwise to a length one-half that of its out-spread condition. Said transversely-folded sheet enters between the tapes 35 36 and is by their nip carried onward outward and passes over the rotating carrier S and between it and the rotating carrier D, and emerging from between them it descends before the guards 51 until its lowermost edge is received and gradually descends and is carried onward by one of the arms Y of the S-fly, and finally said sheet is stripped from the arm Y of the S-fly by con- ,tact with the guard 51 and descends forward on and is laid flatwise upon the moving tapes 61, which gradually carry the received sheets outward by reason of its slow travel. Thus is produced a sheet which is doubled or folded both longitudinally and transversely and thus brought down to a small size convenient for transportation, handling, and sale, all of its parts being free to be unfolded and opened out for the purpose of inspection and perusal. In order to prevent said folded sheet from being freely opened out and its leaves spread apart for the purpose of use without evidencing the fact that this has occurred, its lapped parts are permanently united together at a single point near its free edges by means of a staple inserted through and through at a point near their extremities and sufficiently distant from the last folding-line so that said paper may not be opened outwithout breaking away one or more of its plies from said staple fastening. A means for so attaching it together is combined with said delivery apparatus in a manner now to be explained. This staple fastening is applied in the present instance by means of a stapling mechanism carried by and associated with the carriers S D. This staple-applyin g mechanism is located at some convenient point with relation to the folding mechanism so that it shall operate thereafter, and this relation of the stapling and folding mechanisms in such manner that the stapling mechanism shall operate after the folding mechanism has doubled or lapped its plies together is an essential relation, because in order to effect the object sought there must be at least one folding of the newspaper, and preferably many foldings, in order that a breaking away of its sealed parts shall ensue upon any attempt to use the newspaper by opening it out or separating its plies for perusal. In i-ts general structure this stapling mechanism is like that contained in my applications Serial Nos. 566,347 and 566,348, filed October 21, 1895, and is therefore not covered herein except in its combinations set forth in the claim.

Although an understanding of my Patent No. 510,840 will explain its general structure audits specific construction is embraced in said applications, it will now be briefly described.

The carrier D is preferably made of a size that provides it with a circumferential extent equal to that of the length of two folded newspapers and is therefore provided with duplicate staple-forming mechanisms, which are of course set at opposite points in the periphery of said carrier. Only one of these will be described, as they are duplicates in structure and operation.

In the form shown there isa plunger 10, capable of reciprocating in a tangentially-arranged guide-block 20, carried by the cylinder, its inner end being pivoted to a rock-arm 21, that is fast to a shaft 37, which is journaled in a sleeve projecting from a spoke of the carrier D, from which shaft projects an arm 38, that is pivoted to a spring-rod 22, said plunger 10 thus being spring-seated and normally held protruding from the carrier D. This shaft 37 carries fast upon its outer end a rockarm 39, the bowl of which travels upon the fixed cam 45, that is so shaped as to withdraw the plunger appropriately to suit the state of the staple undergoing formation as the plunger travels over a forming shoe or anvil 11. The outer end of this plunger 10 is bifurcated, so that it may straddle and ride over said shoe 11, the lower face of which is so curved that its heel stands a distance away from the periphery of the carrier D, while its point or terminal forward end lies parallel for a distance with and close to the same, said shoe 11 having near its forward end side plates, only one of which, 12, is shown; but the structure and operation of the pair of said plates in their relation to the said shoe 11 are shown and described in said application. Though these plates are not essential, it may be stated that their function is to bend the staple-legs inwardly to such a degree that when they are released their resilient action toward recovering their straightened form will bring them to right angles with the crown of the staple. The function of this plunger 10 is to cause a staple length of wire to be cut off from the wire supplied thereto and said staple length to be carried onward from its point of reception to the point of delivery, which is where the carriers S D approach and run nearest together, and during such transit to form said wire length into a staple by bending its ends outward as legs and to insert said staple-legs into and through the newspaper passed between said carriers S D, and then to aid in clenching said legs down upon the further side of said material by cooperation with the clenchingdie 1S3, supported in the periphery of the carrier The operation of the plunger 10 in forming the wire length into a staple by bending its ends into outwardly-projecting legs is performed in part by the transverse movement it has over the shoe l1, aided by its retiring movement into the carrier D, which is accomplished by the shape of the cam 45, which causes said retiring movement to coincide with the lower curved or angular face of the shoe 11, said wire-carrying staple-forming plunger-arms being provided with inside vertical facing-grooves, into which said shoe first forces the wire in the operation of forming the staple, and which arms are appropriately withdrawn into the carrier D and are gradually stripped from the staplelegs as the said legs are approaching and enter within the embrace of the plates 12, being entirely withdrawn therefrom when the said staple is being set, so as to permit the staplecrown to rest upon the setting-bed a, as is explained i said application.

The wire from which the staple is to be formed is fed over the carrier D from a reel 14, mounted at the front side of the delivery apparatus, by having its end led through a guideway 15 and passed between rollers 16 17 said wire being protruded by said rollers through a guideway in a head 27 and projected over the periphery of the carrier D within the pathway of rotative travel of the plunger 10.

The wire-feeding rollers 16 17 are geared together so as to rotate in unison by means of gears 18 19 and a worm-wheel 25 on the shaft of roller 17, which is driven bya worm 26 on a short shaft that carries a pinion 27, so geared with other moving parts as to impart the proper speed of feeding movement to these feeding-rollers 16 17.

The head 27 has attached to it a cutter 28, that is capable of being projected by a vibrating'movement across the mouth of the guide-slot in the head 27 or pathway of the wire and thus act to sever a wire length. This cutter 28 is vibrated at the proper time to sever a wire length by a part connected with the plunger 10, that contacts with an arm projecting from the cutter and so vibrates it as to cause it to divide the wire by a shearing out. This mechanism is not shown, but may be the construction shown in said application or any other that will serve the purpose.

It will now be understood that one end of the free tail portions or plies of the folded ICC newspaper will, if properly timed in its passage between the carriers S D, receive a staple forced through its plies and clenched down thereon, thus securing the same together and sealing or uniting the plies of thenewspaper together, so that the completed product, as illustrated in Fig. 5, will be so securely bound together as to require a forcible separation in order that the various pages of the paper may be'outspread so as to be conveniently read. A newspaper is thus sealed so that the fastening of its plies, if tampered with, will 6X- pose the fact of its use, since even if the staple is carefully detached the holes which were made by its insertion will appear as an indicator, and of course the tearing of one or more plies away from the staple or its presence attached to one or more'plies will equally expose the fact of its having been opened. Thus is secured a means of preventing fraud upon the publisher, and the same is readily affixed to the paper in the act of its production.

What is claimed is The combination with folding mechanism for imparting a fold to a printed sheet, of In testimony whereof I have hereunto set mechanism operating to pass a metallic demy hand in the presence of two subscribing vice through the free edges or plies of said Witnesses.

folded sheet and clench said metallic device LUTHER C. CROW'ELL. 5 in place to unite said edges or plies and seal \Vitnesses:

the same from being spread open, substan- G. M. BORST,

tially as described. A. L. KENT. 

